by Josie Kerr
“Now that that’s sorted, Molly, let me introduce you to Bridget Doherty. I think you two will be a good fit for training partners.”
Molly slit her eyes at him, but he just smiled blandly at her, stepping aside and gesturing for her to walk ahead of him into the interior of the fight club.
Chapter Seventeen
Buddy rang the doorbell of Molly’s house, critically eyeing the large windows that ran the length of the 1960s ranch. He didn’t like the fact that the shrubbery was trimmed down so far as to allow unimpeded access to the windows. The sound of the dead bolt turning snapped Buddy’s attention back to the door, which cracked open to show Molly’s forehead and eyes. She unlocked the safety chain and opened the door all the way, a big, beautiful smile on her face.
“Hey, Buddy!” She looked around. “Oh, I figured you’d bring Lucy around this morning.”
“Oh, she’s at dance. Maude’s parents and I switch off taking and picking them up. I dropped off today.” He cleared his throat. “So, yeah. That’s why she’s not with me.”
“Oh, okay. Oh, come in. You can’t do what you need to do from out on the porch.” She stood aside, and Buddy stepped through the door.
A deep bark echoed through the living room, and the biggest dog Buddy had ever seen sat on what looked like a full-size futon on the floor. The dog barked again but then whined and put its head on its paws.
“Oh, yeah—ferocious.” Buddy couldn’t help but laugh. That dog probably weighed as much as he did, but he could tell it would be absolutely worthless if something happened.
“I told you. Buddy, this is Lou. Lou, this is Buddy.”
Lou got off her futon and casually wandered over to investigate Buddy. He stood stock-still as she sniffed his shoes and the hem of his jeans until she seemed satisfied and gave his hand a slobbery lick before ambling back to the futon.
“I guess you passed,” she said with a laugh. “Um, so now that you’ve met Lou, this is me, um, my space.” She gestured awkwardly. “Yeah.”
“I like it. I like the ceilings,” Buddy said, gesturing at the raw beams overhead.
“Yeah, I think that’s my favorite part besides the big kitchen.” A high-pitched giggle escaped, and Molly slapped her hand over her mouth. “Um, so, I’ll let you get to it. I’ll be futzing around if you need anything, okay?”
“Sure thing.”
Buddy got to work, installing sensors on the windows and the door frame in the front of the house. Molly wandered in and out of the kitchen, and he found himself stealing glances at her when she would come into view. She seemed relaxed, content, and beyond sexy in a close-fitting T-shirt and snug jeans that hugged her curves. She was the polar opposite of Natalie, who wouldn’t dream of having a visitor unless she was fully made up. Buddy sighed and attached a sensor to the final window.
When he went into the kitchen, the first thing he saw was her full, heart-shaped rump bent over the table, one knee propped on a wooden chair. Her whole attention was completely absorbed in a large piece of foam-core board. She moved elements around while muttering to herself.
Buddy knocked on a cupboard. “I’m finished with the front of the house.”
Molly shrieked, and the cutouts she had in her hands went flying as she jolted. “Oh, Buddy! You scared the snot out of me!”
“I’m sorry. I figured you heard me come in,” Buddy said with a stifled laugh that caught in his throat when she turned. She was completely stunning, with her flushed cheeks and bright eyes. Buddy concentrated on the ground so he wouldn’t be tempted to stare. She was barefoot, and her toenails were painted a sparkly aquamarine. He liked the bright, unexpected color. “Working on classroom stuff?”
“Yeah. I like making displays and things that aren’t all computer generated. I’m old enough to appreciate doing things with actual paper and scissors.” She moved the cutouts around on the board. “It’s mindless, but it’s not.” She turned to Buddy again and flashed him a brilliant smile. “Sorry, I’m just babbling.”
“No, I get it. I’m the same way, only it’s when I’m punching the speed bag or the heavy bag.”
They stood close to each other, and the air suddenly seemed heavy with expectation.
“You said you were finished?” Molly took a step back, breaking the spell.
“Yeah, with the front. You said you had a dead bolt you’d like me to install?”
“Yeah, the back door just has a simple lock. The door’s solid, but . . .”
“Sure thing. Lead the way.”
Molly pointed him to the back door. “Let me go get the lock. It’s in my office.”
Buddy knelt to examine the lock. “What . . . ,” he murmured.
“Here you go, Buddy,” Molly said, handing him the dead bolt.
“What happened here?” he asked, pointing to the scratched and scarred door. “Has this always been this way?”
“What? No. Oh my gosh. Since school’s started, I haven’t been in the back.” Molly’s face lost all of its lovely color.
“It looks like it’s a good thing you’re replacing this lock.” Buddy made quick work of installing the dead bolt lock and the final alarm. After he’d finished, he went back into the kitchen, where Molly was staring at the display.
“You okay?” Buddy hesitated but then put his hand on her back. “Look, Molly, this might be none of my business, but is this a reason you’re taking self-defense classes?”
She paused but then said, “No, I just thought I needed to have some tools at my disposal.” She didn’t meet his eyes, and he didn’t believe her for a minute. “But thank you for taking time out of your weekend to do this for me. I appreciate it.” She looked at him then. “Really, I do.”
Molly gave him a hug and brushed her lips against his cheek. Buddy felt her gasp afterward, like she was surprised she’d kissed him. He turned his head, and they locked eyes. Then Buddy tilted his head and pressed his lips against hers, softly at first. But when she exhaled against his mouth, Buddy gently pulled her to him. He opened his lips, and she followed his lead as he tenderly probed her mouth with his tongue. He moved his attention to her jaw, peppering kisses along her jawline and ending with a nip to her earlobe. He pulled his head back to look at her, and Molly blinked back at him.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “But not really.”
And she began kissing him again, plunging her tongue into his mouth. Buddy had returned to plundering her mouth, when he felt a buzzing in his trouser pocket.
“I have to go,” he murmured.
“Okay. Thank you.”
Buddy grinned. “No, thank you. Call me if you need anything else.”
“Okay.”
When he left her, she was standing in the kitchen with her hand on her lips and wearing the most wondrous, inscrutable expression.
Chapter Eighteen
Buddy could hear Lucy’s and Maude’s happy squeals as soon as he got out of the car at Colin and Bailey’s house, so he let himself into the backyard to find the two little girls running from Colin, who lumbered after them on his hands and knees, while Bailey sat next to the unlit fire pit, feeding Nora. Bailey waved with her free hand, which diverted the little girls’ attention away from Colin.
“Daddy!” Lucy ran over to Buddy, and he lifted her up and gave her a big kiss on the cheek.
“Heya, sweet pea. Did you have a good dance class?”
“We did! We learned a whole dance. We’ll show you!” Lucy squirmed out of his arms and ran over to Maude. The two little girls consulted for a moment, and Buddy took the opportunity to take a seat in an Adirondack chair next to Bailey. Colin, still on his hands and knees, crawled over to another chair and heaved himself into it.
“Hey, C. Those two giving you a workout?” Buddy asked with a laugh.
“Good Lord, you know it. I watched them from the observation room the last ten minutes of class, and they were running around like maniacs; ‘free dancing’ is what the teacher called it. And when they got here, they shot
out of the car and barely slowed down long enough to change out of their dance clothes. And then they came out here and started running around again.” He leaned his head back. “Man, if I ever go back into the cage, I know who I’m hiring for endurance training. I’ll pay them in glitter and stickers, and we’ll be good. Damn.”
“Colin . . . ,” Bailey said in a warning tone. Her mouth was set in an unhappy line, and Buddy squirmed uncomfortably in his chair as his sister and her husband had a silent altercation.
“Babydoll, it’s purely hypothetical. It would take a hell of a lot to get me back into the cage, period. I’ve been out for four years. That’s an awful long time.” He scrubbed a hand over his face. “I was just running my mouth, Bailey.”
“Cee-cee, can we have a snack? All this dancing has made us hungry!” Maude danced around her father. “Lucy’s hungry, too, but Nora’s not because she just ate.” Maude danced over to her mother and little sister and kissed the baby’s bald head.
“Honey, I think Lucy has to go in just a minute.” Bailey searched Buddy’s face for a clue, but he shook his head slightly.
“We can stay for a while, but don’t get too deep into anything, sweet pea.” Colin frowned at Buddy, who quickly explained. “Our, uh, appointment got rescheduled.”
“That’s too bad.” He turned his attention back to Maude and said in a totally different tone of voice, “Sure thing, little babydoll. Bailey, let me take Nora and put her down for a nap.” He pushed out of the chair and took the now-slumbering infant out of Bailey’s arms. He whispered something in Bailey’s ear and gave her look. Bailey shrugged a shoulder but smiled up at him. “Come on, crazies. Get washed up.”
Buddy chuckled as Colin followed Maude and Lucy into the house. He found himself feeling a little bit jealous of his sister and her huge bear of a husband. Even when they disagreed, it was obvious that Colin and Bailey loved each other very much.
“Buddy.”
“Hmm?”
“You were a million miles away, Big Brother,” Bailey said with a laugh. “Where were you?”
He shook his head and sighed. “Just thinking. I know—scary.” Bailey snorted.
“About Lucy’s mom?”
“Yeah. Thinking about our mom, too, lately. I wonder if she’s okay, if he has beaten her down even more.” Buddy swallowed hard. “Sometimes I wake up at night and have the urge to drive out there and get her, put her in the car, and bring her out here. But I don’t, because I couldn’t bear it if she went back, if she chose him.”
“She didn’t. She’s good.”
Buddy snapped his head up. “What do you mean? How do you know?”
“That’s partially why I wanted you to come over this afternoon, but I thought . . .”
Buddy sighed. “Natalie canceled, or rather, postponed. She got a callback for some show. I’m just glad I didn’t tell Lucy earlier. But what do you mean ‘she’s good’? Have you talked to her?”
“Well, you know I work for a security company, right? And we work a lot with Rory’s Missus’s brother, who’s a private investigator.”
“Uh-huh.”
Buddy listened to Bailey as she told him that she’d found out that Baylor Thomas, the man who had terrorized his own family for years, was in prison for identity theft and larceny, and wasn’t going to get out for a long time, and that their mother, Leigh, had divorced him. What was even more significant was that Leigh, finally freed from Baylor’s threats and abuse, had reunited with Bailey’s biological father, Hale Jenkins. Hale had gotten her into a rehab program, and that’s where she was right now, trying to heal from years of prescription drug abuse, as well as emotional and mental abuse.
“He wants to bring her out to visit when she gets out. You know, when the psychologist okays it. Would you be open to that?” Buddy could tell Bailey was on the verge of tears and that she desperately wanted him to say yes. “Buddy?”
“I don’t know,” he answered honestly. “Do you?”
Bailey slowly nodded. “I do. Hale’s a good man. You know how much he helped me.”
Buddy blew out a breath. He did. He knew Hale had essentially saved Bailey’s life. He also thought Hale could have intervened a hell of a lot earlier, and for that, Buddy harbored quite a bit of resentment toward the man.
“I have to think about it, Bailey.” Buddy rubbed his hands over his face. “I have something to tell you, too. About the day I left.”
“Buddy, you don’t have to—”
“No, Bailey. I do.”
He told her about Baylor’s sabotaging his chances for a scholarship, about the beating that made him miss the meet, and about his expulsion from the trailer. He also apologized for leaving her there to fend for herself and for coming back too late—four years later—and finding that she’d disappeared.
“You didn’t tell me that, you know, when we first found each other again.” Tears ran down her face. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I was ashamed that I wasn’t brave enough to take you with me in the first place.”
“You were eighteen, Buddy.”
“Not an excuse. An explanation, maybe, but not an excuse.” Buddy sucked in a shuddering breath. “I left you there, knowing what they were like. I’ll regret that until I die, Bailey.”
Bailey took his hands in hers. “It all turned out okay in the end.”
“ ‘If it’s not okay, it’s not the end.’ ” That phrase was emblazoned on a plaque that Bailey and Buddy’s mother had owned, which had hung on the/a wall in the living room. That phrase had gotten Buddy through more dark times than he could count.
“That’s right, Big Brother. You need to remember that.”
Buddy nodded. “Easier said than done sometimes, Sis.”
“Yep, that it is.”
Lucy and Maude burst from the house, each girl landing in her parent’s lap.
“I spy some sparkle on you, sweet pea,” Buddy said with a laugh when he noticed a fine stripe of glitter along Lucy’s hairline. “And you smell like bananas.”
“It’s tropical fruit, not just bananas, Daddy. And it’s called ‘glimmer spray,’ and it’s the most best stuff in the world.”
“It looks very pretty. I like it.”
“I want to get Miss Mayhew some. She would like it a lot.”
Buddy thought about Molly’s sparkly toenails. Yes, most likely the woman would like something called glimmer spray.
“Did you get her sorted?” Colin sank down into the chair that he’d been sitting in earlier and patted his lap. Bailey grinned and moved from her seat to his. “Molly, I mean.”
“Yeah, but I’m thinking there’s something more than her just wanting to get into shape. The lock on her back door was tampered with. I don’t like it. Her neighborhood has lots of nosy neighbors, though, which is good. And she has a giant dog, who I bet, if she was actually threatened, would suddenly find her bite in addition to her bark.”
“Mm-hmm.” Both Colin and Bailey grinned at him, and Buddy groaned.
“So—” Bailey began, but Buddy held up his hand.
“I was helping her out. That’s it. We’re not discussing this anymore because there’s nothing to discuss. We’ve had quite enough sharing today, thank you very much.”
“Not that there’s anything to share about Molly.”
“Correct. There’s nothing to share.”
“Uh-huh.” Bailey narrowed her eyes at him, and Buddy shook his head. He hadn’t had time to process the meaning of that kiss or her words. No, his nosy, matchmaking little sister could just slow her roll.
“Yeah-huh, Bailey, and that’s all I’m saying.”
“You are absolutely no fun.” She tapped her cheek with her index finger. “But I’ll get it out of you.”
Buddy laughed and just shook his head. “You probably will, Sis, but not today.”
Not today.
Chapter Nineteen
“Oh my goodness, I never thought something that looked so awful could t
aste so good.” Molly gulped down the putrid green drink while Bridget grinned at her. Although the self-defense classes started the week before, Molly decided to continue her personal training sessions with Bridget. Molly thought she was learning a lot from the classes, but the sessions with Bridget made her feel empowered, like she could do anything, and that feeling was worth every cent of the training fees.
Molly was finishing up the smoothie while Bridget chattered about rumors of a reality show for DS Fight Club when Nanda poked her head around the corner.
“Bridget, you wanna carpool to Bailey’s tonight?” Nanda asked. “Oh, hey, Molly.”
Molly waved and raised her eyebrows in greeting while she continued to gulp down the rest of her smoothie.
“Carpool? Is book club at our house tonight?” Colin, who had been walking past the gym’s kitchen, leaned back and popped his head through the opposite doorway.
“Yep, big man. You’d better get ready.” Bridget was fighting to keep a straight face, and when Colin groaned, she lost it. “Oh, it’s not that bad.”
“No, it could be at Charlotte’s. I don’t know what it is about the Mashburn house that brings out the wild women in y’all, but damn, it does.” The huge man shook his head. “They get you in on this craziness, Miss Molly?”
“Uh . . .”
“You should come.” Nanda grinned and nodded her head enthusiastically.
“Well, I probably haven’t read—” Molly began.
“Doesn’t matter. Half of the time, we don’t read either,” Bridget said with a snort.
“Oh, well, if I wouldn’t be intruding, it would be fun.” Molly rinsed out her cup and put it in the dishwasher.
“You were just saying you needed to get out and socialize more with someone who wasn’t your mother,” Bridget reminded her.
“That’s true . . .” Molly chewed on her lip, still hesitant about horning in on an already established group.
